Around two or three whales were spotted on a beach in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu on Monday evening. However, fishermen dragged them back to the sea. But, on Tuesday morning, scores of these whales were seen on the shores.
While local fishermen rescued 36 of them, 45 whales have died. As per the officials, fishermen kept dragging these whales back into the sea, but they kept coming near Kallamozhi and Manapudu villages.
As per the officials, it is hard to rescue a large pod of whales because all of them need to be pushed into the sea at the same time. If they are not forced back together, they are likely to come back to be with the whale that they think is in distress.
No scientific report has yet been out on the cause of the whales reaching the shore. However, as per reports, these whales may have come thousands of kilometres from the Pacific Ocean and might have become disoriented.
Due to warm waters and inhospitable weather conditions, these whales could have come to colder waters. Also, strong currents in the sea may have resulted in the whales reaching the shore. Search for food could be another reason. As these whales travel in packs, the loss of a member also may have resulted in all of them being washed away.
WATCH: Around 50 Small Fin Whales beached in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu since last evening, number of them dead https://t.co/lyC7aMDZxv
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 12, 2016
While 36 of them have been pushed to the sea, these whales may not be able to survive because of being too exhausted to swim. In the year 1973, a similar incident had occurred when 147 whales were stranded on a beach in Tamil Nadu itself. These whales were pushed back into the sea but all of them were found dead a few days later.
Image Credit: dnaindia.com